EXPLORE · Central America · Costa Rica
SOLVE FOR TOMORROW · 2026
Costa Rica.
Pura vida, pure action for the planet.
- REGION
- Central America
- LANGUAGE
- Spanish
THE CHALLENGE
Innovation with purpose, in Costa Rica.
The 2026 edition of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow in Costa Rica invites student teams to pick one of the four global themes and tackle it from a local lens. Define a real problem in your city, school, or region. Then design, build, and test a prototype that solves it.
What you'll build. A working prototype, whether hardware, software, service, or social, that tackles a specific problem in your community. Your solution should be original, testable, and rooted in real user needs.
Who leads. Student teams of 3–5, guided by a teacher-mentor. Judges score on insight, originality, prototype quality, and local impact.
THE 4 THEMES
PICK YOUR THEME.
FOUR PATHS.
Costa Rica runs on the four global themes of the programme. Pick the one that fires you up, every team starts here.
Sustainability & the Environment
Care for the planet and build a better future.
How could you design a more efficient, sustainable, or smart solution for your community?
Health & Well-being
Improve physical and emotional well-being.
How could you create a more effective way to improve health or prevent problems in your environment?
Supporting the Community
Strengthen communities and support people.
How could you build a solution that truly works and reaches the people who need it most?
Sport for Everyone
Use sport as a tool for positive impact.
How could you adapt, improve, or reinvent sport so more people, including people with disabilities, can take part and benefit?
KEY DATES · Costa Rica
FIVE STAGES.
SIX MONTHS.
From the first idea to the national final. Every team runs the same five stages, here's what happens, and when.
- 01Inspiration
Teachers train as Solve for Tomorrow Tutors with Design Thinking and Lean Canvas. Non-competitive, but it's where every classroom adventure starts.
- 02Ideation
Students aged 14–19 in 8th–12th grade submit ideas to solve a real problem with STEM. Apply solo or as a team. The top 10 proposals per country move on.
- 03Co-Creation
Semifinalists get intensive coaching to sharpen their problem, define who their solution serves, and project its community impact. The top 3 per country advance.
- 04Bootcamp
Each finalist team is paired with a Samsung mentor and works on a conceptual prototype, an explainer video, and a sharper pitch.
- 05Champions
The 3 finalist teams pitch live to a jury of STEM, entrepreneurship, and social-innovation experts. One team is named Solve for Tomorrow 2026 Champions of the country.
IN THE RUNNING · Costa Rica
10 TEAMS STILL IN IT.
These teams came through Ideation and are now in Co-Creation, sharpening the problem they picked and who their solution is for. Three of them reach the Bootcamp.
Aquaguardian
CTP Dulce NombreAquaTeries
CEDES Don BoscoBioRaíz
Colegio Vocacional de Artes y OficiosCycloFab
Colegio Técnico Profesional Don BoscoEcoArrecife
Colegio Vocacional de Artes y OficiosPropuesta Ambiental y Tecnológica para la Calidad del Agua y la Energía en Costa Rica
CTP Dulce NombreRed Puma
Liceo de escazuRhizoBioma
CovaoSalvafauna
CTP Dulce NombreTerraFirme
Colegio Serafico San Francisco
Listed alphabetically by project title. The order is not a ranking.
PAST FINALISTS · Costa Rica
WHAT Costa Rica BUILT BEFORE.
AgroTico Smart
Colegio Técnico Profesional Don Bosco
Sensors and AI to protect crops from climate change.
Transforming climate uncertainty into food security.
WHO CAN APPLY
ELIGIBILITY.
Student teams
- Ages 14–19, enrolled in grades 8–12 (or equivalent)
- Apply solo or as a team, if you advance, you'll form a team of 3–5 with a teacher tutor
- You can submit several ideas, but only continue with one team if you advance
Teacher-mentor
- One lead mentor per team, employed by the school
- No prior innovation experience required
- Mentor toolkit and online training provided
Your idea
- Original work started for this programme
- Addresses a real problem in your community
- Inspired by one of the 4 global themes, combine, reframe, or stretch them
Language
- Submissions in Spanish (English also accepted)
- Video pitch: 90 seconds max
- Project brief: up to 4 pages
* Full eligibility terms vary slightly by country law. Review the Costa Rica handbook before you register your team.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
FIVE STEPS FROM
IDEA TO FINALIST.
Form your team
3–5 students, one teacher-mentor. Mixed ages and skills make the strongest entries.
Pick a local problem
Start from something you see every day in Costa Rica. Small and concrete beats big and vague.
Register online
Each edition opens applications at solvefortomorrowlatin.com. Takes about 10 minutes.
Build a prototype
Sketch your solution with what you have, paper, code, cardboard. The conceptual prototype gets sharper later in the Bootcamp, with a Samsung mentor.
Submit your pitch
Applications for 2026 closed on 17 July. If your idea advanced, you record a video, refine the prototype, and shape your pitch with Samsung mentors.
COMMON QUESTIONS
QUICK ANSWERS.
OTHER CONTESTS · Central America
KEEP EXPLORING Central America.
FOLLOW THE CONTEST
IN Costa Rica.
Applications closed on July 18, 2026. Ten teams are now in Co-Creation, and three of them will reach the Bootcamp.